For Clients

RECRUITING FOR THE
UK INDEPENDENT SCHOOL SECTOR

Connaught Education has been recruiting for the UK independent school sector since 2004. We have worked with hundreds of schools across the country in that time and made thousands of successful appointments. We recruit for a wide range of positions; teaching is naturally the most popular appointment we make, but we also actively recruit management and leadership, support staff for the classroom and increasingly school office positions ranging from HR to marketing to PAs. We mainly place candidates into permanent/long term roles, but do also provide short term cover. We have worked with independent schools from all of the major associations including HMC, IAPS, ISA, SoH and GSA.

We understand the very high standards expected of independent schools in this country and appreciate the expectations of parents. The key to your school’s success is first rate staff who are not just well-qualified, committed and dynamic but who are also the right personal and cultural fit for your school. We understand how each independent school has its own personality and ethos; it is here where we look for the right person for you and not merely a CV. We also take the time to get to know your school and would welcome the chance to visit you.

The recruitment and retention crisis of teachers in this country is having an effect on all schools; now more than ever solutions need to be found to staffing problems. When taking on an assignment we of course search for experienced teachers from the sector, but we also actively try to source high quality talent from the state sector, the international scene and dynamic graduates and NQTs at the start of their career. Throughout the year, we also proactively try to source candidates from the shortage STEM areas.

Having been in the sector since 2004, we naturally have a large network and database of high quality candidates. However, we invest heavily in online searching and advertising platforms which allow our consultants to reach an impressive talent pool worldwide.

We are based in London and have always had a strong presence in the city and surrounding Home Counties. However, over the years we have also developed throughout the country and now work with schools in the South West, Wales, the Midlands, the North and Scotland. We have a dedicated consultant in our Birmingham office serving the Midlands area. We are highly experienced and enjoy successful relationships with a wide and varied range of stakeholders within the sector, including schools which are charitable trusts, limited companies or owned by international corporations. We recruit for both day and boarding schools and those that are pre-prep, prep, senior and through.

Our team is experienced, knowledgeable and passionate. Many are former teachers themselves and all are able to provide you with a highly professional service. We will tell you how confident we are that we can generate a candidate shortlist for you and will be able to advise you on what you can do to maximise results. We are also experienced in offer management and strive to negotiate the fairest outcome for client and candidate alike.

We work on a non-retained basis and only charge a recruitment fee should a candidate we introduce successfully start work with you.

RECRUITING FOR THE
INTERNATIONAL SECTOR

We understand the high standards expected of international schools and the pressure placed on them by parents, investors and associations. The key to your school’s success is first rate staff who are not just well-qualified, committed and dynamic but who are also the right personal and cultural fit for your school. We understand how each independent school has its own personality and ethos; it is here where we look for the right person for you and not merely a CV.

We work with international schools in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and the Americas. We have worked with international schools from many major associations including COBIS, BSO and BSME. We recruit not just teachers but also senior leadership, management and support staff. We have experience of working with English curriculum schools with UK based parent organisations, with more independent and proprietor-led English curriculum schools, with IB World schools and with schools offering the American/Canadian/Australian curriculums.

The majority of staff we source are British trained, though we also look for talent in those trained elsewhere. Many of the candidates we source are already working abroad or have experience of doing so, but we also actively recruit those looking to teach abroad for the first time. In this instance, we go through the process in detail with them to truly screen their commitment.

We naturally have a large network and database of high quality candidates. However, we invest heavily in online searching and advertising platforms which allow our consultants to reach an impressive talent pool worldwide.

Our team is experienced, knowledgeable and passionate. Many are former teachers themselves and all are able to provide you with a highly professional service. We will tell you how confident we are that we can generate a candidate shortlist for you and will be able to advise you on what you can do to maximise results. We are also experienced in offer management and strive to negotiate the fairest outcome for client and candidate alike.

We work on a non-retained basis and only charge a recruitment fee should a candidate we source successfully start work with you.

What Our Clients Say

“Astrum Education has been working with Connaught Education for nearly two years now. The quality and relevance of the candidates they put forward has always been high. That combined with speed and efficiency of service makes them our first point of call when in need of support. Our Account Manager at Connaught is always available and ready to help with professionalism and deep understanding of the industry and people, and with great sense of humour which sometimes is even more important. We recommend them wholeheartedly.”

Aga Zaborowicz

HR & Recruitment Manager

Astrum Education

“Thank you for all your help with the recruitment – it’s been great working with you, and I really feel that you understand what we are looking for in our candidates and have provided us with some great staff”

HR Manager

Abbey College Cambridge

“I just wanted to put on record my thanks for all your help over the last couple of weeks in filling our vacancy for a temporary Head of Drama. You could not have been more helpful or efficient. We had drawn a complete blank in our own attempts to fill the position but you immediately understood our brief and to have found so many possible candidates in such a short time period was extremely impressive. I also appreciate the way you answered our queries so quickly – often outside of office hours! – and you simply made the whole process exceptionally easy for us. We used Connaught a while ago to fill a couple of vacancies and on the basis of our experience this time round I would definitely use the firm again and I would be very happy to recommend you to any potential new clients. I’m very grateful for all your hard work and support.”

Joss Buchanan

Principal

King William’s College Isle of Man

“We were struggling to source a high calibre Teacher of Spanish, but Connaught put forward two candidates, one of whom we successfully appointed and who has settled in well. All our dealings with the agency were met with professionalism and any enquiries were responded to promptly and efficiently. We were also impressed that the agency proposed alternative pay and/or fee arrangements, so that the School benefited financially. We would happily use Connaught again when looking to recruit high calibre teaching staff.”

Karen L Bowles

PA to the Headteacher

St Leonards-Mayfield School

“We feel this has been a successful recruitment process for us – more so than when we have placed adverts and website postings”

Lorna Baisley

PA to the Headteacher

Wellow House School

“I have been dealing with Connaught Education and have found them to be extremely successful in understanding what I was looking for and in supplying excellent teachers, both supply and permanent for the school. At very short notice they have found for us at Buckingham College Prep, a supply maths teacher, a permanent music teacher (good teachers in those areas are like hens’ teeth) and most recently a Year 1 teacher to cover 2 terms maternity leave. The calibre of all these teachers is excellent and Connaught obviously vet their people really well. I have been delighted and always think of them first when seeking either supply or permanent staff. As a matter of interest Connaught were recommended to me by Dr Trevor Lee at Northwood Prep.”

Headmistress

Buckingham College Prep

“MPW have worked with Connaught Education for 20 years, the standard of support, quality of candidates and success rate ensures that we will continue to consider Connaught as our preferred partner. Over the past six years Connaught have successfully supported me on numerous appointments for academic, education administration and wider support roles. Connaught take the time to understand each of their clients and they certainly understand our expectations and culture. This improves the recruitment process the interview hit rate and ultimately reduces staff turnover. Connaught have a wealth of experience in the sector, strong brand presence and are an organisation that candidates and employers trust. I have every confidence in recommending Connaught.”

Spencer Coles

CEO

Mander Portman Woodward

MPW have worked with Connaught Education for a number of years both on teacher appointments and, more recently, on senior executive appointments…they regard it as a matter of professional pride to deliver entirely to the client’s satisfaction, which is a huge asset.

Connaught Education will continue operations during the COVID-19 lockdown period. If you have concerns about recruitment or securing a suitable role for yourself, our consultants are on hand to help: http://www.connaughteducation.com/contact/